Four More Price Increases

With nearly all major lubricant manufacturers announcing adjustments, the first round of finished lubricant price increases in 2018 will make its mark in the history books. The first announcement JobbersWorld reported on came when CAM2 announced on January 12th that it was pushing through a price increase effective February 5th. This was soon followed by Shell and within three days of the first announcement, most lubricant manufacturers also announced with ExxonMobil only seven days after Shell. Importantly, however, although CAM2 was the first to announce, CAM2, Advanced Lubrication Specialties, and Chemlube, with and effective date of February 5th, are the first to move. A summary of the most recent price increase announcements are shown below and that’s followed by a summary of all finished lubricant price increases JW reported in the first round for 2018.

Old World announced it will raise finished lubricant prices by 6 to 10%. The increase is effective February 12, 2018. Old World attributes the increase to recent increases in raw material and distribution costs.

BP Lubricants USA (Castrol) advised its customers of up to 6% price increase on Castrol and BP branded pasenger car, commercial and synthetic lubricants excluding industrial This increase is effective March 12th. BP Lubricants attributes the adjustment to escalation in the costs of base oils, additives, packaging, and transportation.

CITGO announced a price increase of 5 to 8% for all of its branded and unbranded lubricant products ordered on or after February 23rd. The price adjustment is attributed to industry wide increases in the cost of base oil and additives.

Petro-Canada advised its customers of up to a 6% lubricant price increase across-the-board, excluding process oils and Purity FG white oils, which will increase $0.10 cents per gallon. This increase is effective February 23rd.

As of today, the list of companies JobbersWorld reported on that have announced lubricant price increases in 2018 is shown below:

Company

Announced Date

Effective Date

Increase

CAM2

1/12/2018

2/5/2018

6 to 10%

SOPUS Products (Shell Lubricants)

1/15/2018

2/19/2018

up to 5%

Advanced Lubrication Specialties (ALS)

1/16/2018

2/5/2018

6 to 10%

Sinclair Lubricants

1/17/2018

3/1/2018

up to 6%

Chemlube

1/18/2018

2/5/2018

$0.20 to 0.25/gal

Nu-Tier Brands

1/18/2018

2/19/2018

6 to 8%

Martin Lubricants

1/18/2018

2/16/2018

4 to 7%

Safety-Kleen

1/18/2018

2/19/2018

5 to 8%

Pinnacle Oil

1/19/2018

2/6/2018

6 to 10%

Royal Mfg

1/22/2018

2/26/2018

5 to 8%

ExxonMobil

1/22/2018

2/26/2018

up to 6%

Reliance Fluid Technologies (RFT)

1/22/2018

2/26/2018

5 to 9%

Chevron

1/22/2018

3/1/2018

up to 5%

CITGO

1/23/2018

2/23/2018

5 to 8%

Petro-Canada

1/24/2018

2/23/2018

Lubricants up to 6%
Process Oils and Purity FG White Oils $0.10/gal

Warren Distribution

1/24/2018

2/26/2018

6 to 9%

Smitty’s Supply

1/24/2018

2/12/2018

lubricants 6 to 10%
Greases 3cpp

Phillips 66

1/25/2018

3/5/2018

up to 5%

Old World Industries

1/29/2018

2/12/2018

6 to 10%

BP Lubricants USA (Castrol excluding industrial)

1/29/2018

3/12/2018

up to 6%

ARG Announces Blended Lubricants Team

American Refining Group Inc. Announced the Team that will Lead its Sales of Blended Lubricants

The American Refining Group announced today that ARG’s customers – existing, new and potential – can turn to this team for all of their blended-lubricant needs. Supported by dozens behind the scenes, the team’s industry knowledge and experience forms the foundation of ARG’s partnership with its customers. The sales team that will move ARG forward to grow and develop business with premium specialty lubricants included:

Todd Cawley Business Manager – Blended Lubricants Todd Cawley will draw on decades of industry experience in working closely with customers and distributors throughout the world to supply them with top-quality blended lubricant products.

Cody Leatherman Product Manager – Base Oils and Blended Lubricants Cody Leatherman began his career seven years ago as a research chemist formulating specialty lubricants. He has supervisory experience in research and development, quality control and technical services. He will focus on aligning products with industry and customer needs, cultivating relationships and conducting industry training for our customers.

Luke Rawding Regional Sales Manager Luke Rawding has more than 12 years of lubricant industry experience specializing in account management and new growth, particularly in production and machining in both the U.S. and Canada. His skills also include product application, inventory management and cost savings.

Mike Greene Focusing on mutually beneficial and logistically advantaged private-label business is Account Specialist Mike Greene. He also heads up ARG’s Kendex® OCTG accounts and many of our export accounts. He holds a master’s degree and nine years of industry experience.

Combination of Petro-Canada Lubricants and HollyFrontier’s Tulsa-based Lubricants Business Creates Fourth Largest Specialty Lubricants Producer in North America.

HollyFrontier Corporation today announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of Suncor Energy’s Petro-Canada Lubricants (“PCLI”) business for CAD $1.125 billion, including working capital with an estimated value of CAD $342 million. All U.S. and Canadian regulatory requirements have been received. HollyFrontier anticipates the acquisition will be immediately accretive to the Company’s earnings per share and cash flow.

The Petro-Canada Lubricants plant, located in Mississauga, Ontario is the largest producer of base oils in Canada with 15,600 barrels per day of lubricant production capacity, and is the only North American producer of high margin Group III base oils. The facility is downstream integrated from base oils to finished lubricants and produces a broad spectrum of specialty lubricants and white oils that are distributed to end customers worldwide. The Petro-Canada Lubricants business brings HollyFrontier industry leading product innovation and R&D capabilities, a global sales and distribution network and strong brand portfolio recognized globally. With this transaction, HollyFrontier also acquired a perpetual exclusive license to use the Petro-Canada trademark in association with Lubricants.

With the addition of the Petro-Canada Lubricants business, HollyFrontier becomes the fourth largest lubricants producer in North America with a capacity of 28,000 barrels per day, or approximately 10% of North American production.

George Damiris, President and CEO commented, “PCLI is a transformative acquisition that advances our long-term vision and strategy. PCLI is a great business with great people, brands, intellectual property, and market presence. Combined with our existing Tulsa specialty lubricants business it creates scale, operational and financial synergies, and a strong platform for growth. The transaction will benefit our stockholders, our current and new employees and Canada, especially as we expand the North American and international reach of PCLI.”

About HollyFrontier Corporation:HollyFrontier Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is an independent petroleum refiner and marketer that produces high value light products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other specialty products. HollyFrontier operates through its subsidiaries a 135,000 barrels per stream day (“bpsd”) refinery located in El Dorado, Kansas, a 125,000 bpsd refinery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a 100,000 bpsd refinery located in Artesia, New Mexico, a 52,000 bpsd refinery located in Cheyenne, Wyoming and a 45,000 bpsd refinery in Woods Cross, Utah. HollyFrontier markets its refined products principally in the Southwest U.S., the Rocky Mountains extending into the Pacific Northwest and in other neighboring Plains states. In addition, HollyFrontier, through its subsidiary, owns Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc., whose Mississauga, Ontario facility produces 15,600 barrels per day of base oils and other specialized lubricant products and owns a 37% interest (including a 2% general partner interest) in Holly Energy Partners, L.P.

Information about the Company may be found on its website at www.hollyfrontier.com.
Source: HollyFrontier